Firefighters seek stability with proposed contract

Senate Bill 5 Debate

The passage of Senate Bill 5, Ohio's collective-bargaining law, brought out protestors on both sides of the issue. Now, there is Issue 2, a referendum that could overturn SB 5. See videos, stories and arguments on both sides.

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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoFile PhotoA tentative three-year deal reached during the weekend would have Columbus firefighters pay all the employee costs of their pensions by the end of 2014. It also would raise their pay 2.25 percent next year and 2.75 percent a year in both 2013 and 2014.

Columbus firefighters will vote on a new contract — offering raises but cutting back on benefits — right before the statewide vote on Issue 2, which would drastically curb collective bargaining for public-employee unions.

The tentative three-year deal, reached after a weekend of bargaining between union leaders and Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s office, would have firefighters pay all the employee costs of their pensions by the end of 2014. Meanwhile, it would raise their pay 2.25 percent in 2012 and 2.75 percent a year in 2013 and 2014.

The city would spend $4.6 million more on fire salaries and benefits next year than it expects to spend in 2011, a 2.3 percent increase, according to an analysis that the Coleman administration released after The Dispatch filed an open-records request. No numbers for 2013 or 2014 were available yesterday.

If firefighters approve the contract in voting on Sunday and Monday, it would take the place of a contract that would have expired at the end of May. Union president Jack Reall said he entered discussions about an early contract extension because he’s worried about what legislators will do after the vote, not because he’s worried that Issue 2 will pass.

“We believe they’re going to continue to attack collective bargaining and unions through piecemeal efforts,” he said. “I’m trying to put my members in a position of stability.”

That stability will come at a cost: Reall said firefighters would lose money by the end of the new contract.

No one in the Coleman administration would comment on the negotiations or the contract, said Dan Williamson, the mayor’s spokesman. He acknowledged that the mayor took a personal interest in the negotiations, as he does in all union talks.

Reall said he spent the weekend talking with the administration, including officials in the city’s Human Resources Department but “primarily with the mayor’s office,” he said.

Usually, the city’s contract negotiations are handled by Human Resources officials, often with help from outside attorneys who are labor-law experts.

The first indication that firefighters might be seeking a new contract or an extension ahead of the Nov. 8 vote on Issue 2 came on Oct. 20, when Reall notified his members that the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 67 had set aside Nov. 6 and 7 for voting on a new contract.

Last week, Reall said he was keeping his options open in case a contract emerged before the statewide vote. Chester C. Christie, the city’s human-resources director, said no one from his office was negotiating with the firefighters. At the time, Williamson acknowledged there had been “informal conversations” between union leaders and the mayor’s office.

If firefighters approve the contract, it would move to the Columbus City Council for approval.

Councilwoman Priscilla R. Tyson said she was told on Monday that a tentative contract had been reached, but said she had not yet looked at the details. She said she believes the administration and the fire union are working together in good faith.

“I think that everyone’s trying to help look at ways of providing benefits and trying to save the city $100 million to $150 million as we promised taxpayers we would do in 2009,” she said.

Councilwoman Eileen Y. Paley also said she had not seen the details. Paley said unions have responded well to the city’s policy to negotiate for rollbacks of pension pickups and employees paying more for their health care.

“The unions are cooperating with us and working with us on their own without a need for Issue 2,” she said.

Other council members could not be reached for comment.

Senate Bill 5, the law that is the subject of a referendum in State Issue 2, would forbid government employers from picking up employees’ pension costs.

In 2009, two years before Senate Bill 5 was proposed, Columbus began negotiating a phase-out of pension pickups as part of its promise to save money after voters approved an income-tax increase. The scaling back starting with the current firefighter contract.

Pension pickups for Columbus employees cost $41.5 million in 2010.

Senate Bill 5 also would require public employees to pay at least 15 percent of their health-care premiums. The proposed firefighter contract calls on employees to pay 10 percent of their health-care premium, up from 9 percent, starting April 1.